


Insomnia

by Superslamer



Category: None - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:49:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29135076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Superslamer/pseuds/Superslamer
Summary: John, Marcus, and Melo are all roommates in college despite being fairly young, 16, 17 and 17. There are a bunch of ups and down and the three find out things about each other that nobody else knows. Will they overcome the obstacles thrown at them, or will they never be the same again?





	1. A Foggy Evening in August

**Author's Note:**

> John is 16, Marcus and Melo are 17, all guys, and they are roommates  
> John has bronze skin with freckles, that are just a bit darker than his skin, His hair is naturally a fire-y color, his eyes are black with golden-like pupils, that are silvery around the edges. He's about 6'2, pretty thin but not underweight. He's nice although his clothing style would make you think otherwise, mainly dark colors, His voice is somewhat medium. Also, his pet is an unnaturally big ant, that bites from time to time, but is nice... The ant is black with piercing-red eyes...  
> Marcus, the tallest, he's not much taller than John, he's 6'3 His skin tone is naturally gray-ish with fully white eyes, making his iris invisible, his hair is lack with a tone of blue. That means he has to wear contacts, he wears mostly pastel blue ones with a bit of violet in them. He's the most aggressive one, yelling every single human rights and wearing skirts and tights with croptops, to make sure everyone knows clothes have no gender, he's dealing with some anger issues since he was born, but he's trying to be more nice, his voice is naturally deep and makes him sound like nothing ever matters to him  
> Melo, is the smallest being 6'0. He's the edgiest one, but is the only one who actually knows how to cook, He likes wearing big hoodies, he refuses to wear purely black clothes, so he has to have something colorful to it. He was born with naturally split-dyed hair, one side being brown and the other being gray with a teal undertone He also has a pet, which is abnormally small Parrot, his voice is a bit low, but not low like Marcus, but not higher than John's
> 
> These characters were created by my Twitter best friend Anx (@AnxietyLovesYou). I love him and you should show him love too. :D Okay, enjoy!
> 
> Also warning bit of bullying, I don't know what else there is but just be aware. I'm not really bugged by things so like if I write about something it can slip pass me so be aware of that, although I can normally pick up on really really sensitive subjects. So yeah. :D

‘Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! Where is classroom 259? I am so screwed!’ I wasn’t even thinking about where I was walking, I was just worried about getting to class on time. I knew which building I was supposed to be in but no idea where the room was. The floors were all fine but the classroom numbers were so weird. On floor one there are classrooms 100-104, 200-204, 300-304 and 400-404, on the second floor there are rooms 205-209 and 305-309, on floor three it was rooms 105-114, 405-413 and 310. So I don’t think 259 is a thing, maybe it was a misprint, I don’t know. At this point the bell rang and I gave up. I snuck back to my dorm not being able to wait to see my baby again. His name is Uncle. He’s a giant ant, and because most people say ant instead of aunt, I figured I should name him Uncle. Now when I say I was surprised, I mean surprised. I’m not normally the type to stand in awe of something but when I opened the door I couldn’t help but stare. There was another person in there, I mean of course there would be I’m in a dorm, but he was vibing with Uncle. I have no idea who this person is, they probably have no idea who this random huge ant is, but they were just sitting there and watching TV.

“Ex- uh… excuse me?”

“What’s up?

“Uhm, Hi... I’m John... That’s my pet ant, Uncle… And I was wondering why you aren’t trying to murder him. And why are you in the dorm? We have school, you know.”

“I mean seeing a giant ant on the couch, who wouldn’t wanna vibe with it?”

“... o_o”

“Oh, I’m Marcus. Also yes I do know that we have school, but I never go the first day… well the first wee- okay you got me the first month. It’s too much work and I always get my grades back up. It's not a problem. Now you, why are you here?”

“...o<o… I- uh…”

“Couldn’t find your room?”

“Yeah… :(”

“What room is it?”

“2- 259…”

“Oh wow, you really are new. Don’t worry they pull that prank on all the newest kids to see if they are really going to push through the school year.”

“That’s stupid.”

“Yeah, I know. Come on. *pats couch* Stay here, you’ll be fine. I promise.”

“...o//////o… O-okay.”

I sat on the couch next to him. I didn’t notice what he was wearing until now. A tanktop and a skirt. Is he one of them? Doesn’t matter, he seems nice. *Marcus wraps his arm around John’s shoulder* ‘ _ Oh, my muffin!!! What is he doing?! I swear if he moves any more I’m letting Uncle eat him. _ ’ 

“Oh, sorry, are you fine with me like this? It’s comfortable.”

“Hmm? Oh yeah! It’s fine. Just not used to people doing that unless they… you know…”

“Want something?”

“Yeah. Uh, soooooo, how are you?”

“Pretty okay-ish. And you?”

“Could be better. I just had one of the worst pranks of my life pulled on me, remember.”

“Heh heh, yeah. … … … wait, the worst?”

“Yeah, my teacher is going to hate me now, and I know my momma is gonna be mad at me for being absent.” John leans into Marcus’s shoulder for comfort.

“Oh, well, who’s your teacher?”

“Mr. Squeegee.”

“Oh, Fish Man! I know where he is, come on.” Marcus jolts up.

John lightly falters from the movement. “o<o What? Fish ma- okay.”

Marcus drags John out of the dorm and starts to make his way to Mr. Squeegee’s room. Halfway there, they bump into another kid. He’s kind of short, 6 foot. He has a smol parrot floating next to him. That parrot is what grabs John’s attention. 

“Oh. My. Muffin!! That is the cutest parrot I’ve ever seen!! OwO”

“Umm, thank you.”

“Hi! I’m John.” He puts his hand out for the other to shake.

“Melo.” He apprehensively puts his hand into the other’s and gives a firm shake.

“Wooooaaaahhhhhh, You have such a strong hand! :0”

“Uuuuuhhhhhhhhhhh… thank you?”

“You wanna get to class right?” Marcus butts in.

“Oh right! Okay, bye-bye!! -w-”

“Bye…’ _ what a weird child _ ’”

Marcus and John make it to Mr. Squeegee’s classroom.

“Mr. S! What’s up?”

“Blub glub. Blu?

“Not much. How’s the misses?”

“Gub glub gloob. *She’s good. Just had my beautiful baby boy.*”

“:O Oh congrats!” John blurts.

Marcus, Mr. Squeegee, and the whole friggin class looks at him.

“TT-TT What?”

“Did you just understand what he said?”

“Yeah?”

“So… are you new or nah?”

“Yes, I am. Why?”

“Cause you just understood him?????”

“? Why is that so weird?”

“It took me almost a whole year to even understand half of what he says.”

“Oh, well I mean, think about it. I have a pet ant who could have eaten me the first time I met him, he was starving, he almost ate a chip bag, but he didn’t. So I guess that I can talk to animals. Not to say you’re an animal, but you technically are. You’re just more sentient than any other one I’ve met.”

“Blu glu bolop blep. *It’s fine, at least I don’t need to struggle and you can help me with teaching class*”

“O-O Oh, uhm okay. I mean AnXiEtY but like okay.”

“Okay cool, I’m gonna go take a nap. Peace.”

“Okay, bye bye! :3”

“Gloo. *See you next month*”

“Oh he’s in this class?”

Mr. Squeegee nods. *Bell rings*

“Blup. *Help me teach the class, please*”

“Okay. :D”

John helps Mr. S and made things much easier for the rest of the class. He found all of his other classrooms so the rest of the day went smoothly. Until lunch…

“Oi, it’s the litl bitch boi.” (random person that nobody likes a.k.a Dylan)

“Oh, shut up Dylan, no one wants to hear your face.” (Marcus)

“Aw, the baby’s tryna hurt my feelings, pathetic.”

“Oh, I’ll show you pathetic.” Marcus rolls up one of his sleeves on his comfy black jacket.

John comes running over to the scene. “No, no. No fighting.”

“John…”

“Oi, is that your litl fuck babe?”

“ :( Language. And what do you mean by “bleep babe”?”

“Nothing, don’t worry about it.” Marcus covers John’s ears. “You little shit, don’t say stuff like that in front of him. He’s pure.” Marcus uncovers John’s ears.

“What’d you say?”

“Nothing, don’t worry about it.”

“Noooooo, tell me!!”

“Yeah, go ahead, go tell your litl boyfriend what you said.”

“Boyfriend??????”

“He’s not my boyfriend, ya dingus.”

“Wah, Markie-moo called me a dingus. I’m so hurt I oughta tell a teacher.”

“Don’t. You. Dare.” Marcus scowls.

“And since your litl boyfriend helped you, I should tell on him too.” Dylan smirks.

“You wouldn’t dare! He hasn’t done anything to you!”

“I would.”

Marcus looks at John, “Please, I’m begging you, let me break his legs. Or even better, His head!” Marcus snaps at Dylan.

“No! Are you insane?!”

“Oi, hun, your litl boy toy init all you think he is. He’s a ravenous beast, who’ll eat you alive the second he gets you alone. You better pray for his roommates.” 

John backs away from Marcus and looks at Dylan, then at Marcus, than back at Dylan, then back at Marcus.

“Hah! The poor baby has to deal with Markie-moo! You betta lock your door.” Dylan chuckles. “Have fun!” and walks away.

John, completely focused on Marcus, is paralyized.

“No, listen, John. I’m not going to hurt you.”

John continues to stare.

“John, please.”

John backs away slowly.

“No, I’m not bad, I promise. I’m misunderstood. Please.”

“I- I’m sorry” John turns and runs from the Main yard.

“No, John!  _ That bitch! He just- I can’t believe- The one friend I- finally- had”  _ Marcus walks to his special room to cool off.

**4 hours later**

John walks to his dorm and as he reaches the door, he stops.  _ Do I really want to? What if he’s…? No, It’s my dorm, and if he tries to hurt me, I have Uncle.  _ John takes a deep breath and unlocks the door and walks in. There’s Melo, in the kitchen, with his tiny little... oh the little baby! Look at it he’s so-  _ Shut up and continue the story.  _ >:(... There’s Melo, in the kitchen, with his tiny parrot making dinner.

“Squak, Sqoke.” (Oh, hey it’s the weird child from earlier.)

Melo snickers.

“Hey, it’s not nice to call people weird.”

“You can understand him?”

“Yeah, I have a giant pet ant. I can also understand Mr. Squeegee.”

“Oh, wow. Uhhmm. Okay. Sorry. Want a cookie?”

“Sure.”

Melo levitates a cookie to John.

“:O, You can make things float???” John takes the cookie out of the air and takes a bite.

“Yeah. It’s really useful, even in everyday situations.”

“Oh, man that’s cool!”

Marcus opens the door and walks up to John.

“John…”

John backs up.

“I’m not gonna hurt you, I promise.”

“Promise, Promise? Like, Pinky Promise?”

“Pinky Promise.”

John and Marcus make direct eye contact and stare at each other.

“Are you guys done? Dinner’s ready.”

John and Marcus look at Melo then at each other again. They all go to the table and eat. John and Marcus want to talk to each other but Marcus is too hurt and John is still scared. They go to their respective rooms and both lock their doors.

“Wow, did they breakup, or something?”

“Chirp, cheep chrop.” (I don’t know, I didn’t even know Marcus was gay. Or the other one.)

“I mean, I don’t know, They could be bi. I guess we’ll just have to see what happens.”


	2. The Next Morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mention of abusive parents, more bullying, a couple others things so be warned nothing really bad I don't believe.

John, Marcus and Melo all wake up and go to their classes. Well, you know, John and Melo did. Marcus stayed at home and tried to do some cleaning. 

As Marcus was cleaning his room, Uncle came in and rubbed against his calf.

“Oh, hey buddy.” Marcus leans down and pets him. Uncle gives a little squeak. “What buddy?” Uncle nudges Marcus again and moves to the door. “Do you want me to follow you?” Uncle squeaks again. “Okay?” Marcus follows Uncle into the hallway and to John’s door. Uncle pushes the door open a bit and squeezes his way in and pushes the door more. “Hey buddy, I don’t think I sh-“ Marcus gets a glimpse of John’s room. “Woah.” There were flowers and vines hanging on the walls and shelves and from the roof. His bed was nicely made and his sheets had a floral pattern. His floor had green carpet and he had a couple of wall decals of trees and fauna. Uncle ran under the bed and started pushing something out from under. “What’s that?” Uncle pushes a shoebox towards Marcus. Marcus walks in a little hesitates and backs up. Uncle ran over and bit his ankle. “Oww! What the fuck?!” Uncle gnashes his mandibles and pushes Marcus into the room. “Listen I’m not looking through his stuff, okay?” Uncle shuts the door and stands guard. “Bro, come on.” Uncle sits. “I’ll open it but I’m not going to read anything.” Uncle stands. “Okay, okay. Just no biting, please.” Uncle sits. Marcus hesitantly walks over to the box and sits on the ground in front of it. He turns it around and reads the top. ‘Memories’ “Huh?” Marcus gently opens the box, there’s a book, a couple of papers and pictures, and a necklace. It was a heart. Marcus gingerly picked it up and cradled it in his hands. It was a locket. He pushed the button to open it. Inside was a photo of a younger John, and two other people, who Marcus assumed was his parents. Marcus closed the locket and gently set it back in the box. Then his attention turned to the pictures. One was of John playing with a childhood friend. Another was of a birthday party, John’s 9th. The next couple was of other random days where John seemed to be happy but gradually they seemed to get sadder and sadder. Marcus put them down and looked at the book. Pictures are one thing, words are another. Marcus hesitated, he held the book in his hands, turned it around a bit. He opened the first page and saw ‘John Cotterill’ with flowers and vines drawn everywhere. He quickly shut the book, turned it over a couple more times, then looked around. Uncle was laying by the door, Marcus thought about leaving, so he stood up, Uncle didn’t move, he could leave; but he wanted answers. He sat back down and opened the book again. ‘John Cotterill’ and the flowers filled his mind. ‘ _ So that’s his name’  _ He hesitantly flipped to the next page. “Dear diary, Hi.” The date was January 29, 2009. It seemed to be scribbled in a little kids handwriting. He looked at a couple other pages, then one caught his eye. The writing almost immediately went from a two year old trying to draw to a 20 year old writing an essay. In a very neat cursive read 

“Dear Diary, Hello again. Today hasn’t been the best, Mom has been having me work on my grammar and writing, because ‘If you can’t write, you might as well die.’ I mean, sort of, but like not really. I know how to write but now I can’t even get one letter wrong or else Mom will yell at me. Talk to you later. Love, John <3” 

The date was July 20, 2012. ‘ _ Three years?! This has improved so much. What the hell?’ _ He flipped through a couple more pages and something else grabbed his attention. It was a drawing of a couple of flowers.  _ ‘Is this where his love of flowers came from?’  _

“Dear Diary, My momma took me out to the fields today and I got to play around in the grass. She tried to hurt me. Badly. I wasn’t doing as good as she wanted me to. I got a B on one of my papers. Bye. -John” Dated February 11, 2018. 

_ ‘So the flowers aren’t healthy, They’re pretty, but he shouldn’t be living in this. Too many bad memories. I know the feeling.”  _ Marcus flipped the page and  _ ‘April 20, 2020? That’s a big skip.’  _ “Dear Diary, Sorry for being gone for so long. I’ve been having a hard time and Momma took you away. I’m sorry. Well anyways, I met this cute guy last week. We’ve been together for the last 3 days, he’s really nice. And he protects me from all the other guys. I don’t need the help but it’s better than getting in a fight and getting in trouble. Some men are pigs, he’s not though. I really like him. I don’t wanna look too far into the future but still I can’t help but think what life might be like with a husband. Love ya, Love, John <3” ‘ _ The hearts are back, that’s good’  _ Marcus flipped to the latest page. August 28, 2020. ‘ _ Last night’  _

“Dear Diary, I met this cute guy today. He helped me get to class, he’s really sweet. There was this other kid, Dylan I think, he was being rude. I had to keep Marcus (cute guy from earlier)...’ 

‘ _ Oh shit. He called me cute. Holy fuck. Oh my god. This man. Okay. calm.’ _

__ ‘... from hitting him. I would have liked to see him get decked but like I don’t want people to fight, definitely not around me. Dylan said that Marcus is a beast. Pfft, I hope a beast in the sheets. Marcus seems nice. I don’t know why Dylan would say that, I think Marcus is just misunderstood, but like I was still scared and I made things awkward and I feel bad because he seemed upset and I didn’t mean to hurt his feelings. It's just, you know, the fear from past trauma, but it’s fine. Sort of. I wanna talk to him and get this all figured out and stuff. My momma gave me a picture from the field, she said that if I was bad she would do it again, but actually be successful this time. Anyways, Love ya. I’ll tell you about my talk with Marcus later if I get the chance. Okay, bye! Love, John <3’

“Wow, okay.” Marcus puts the book back and gets a glimpse of the picture, he just pushes the box back under the bed, then gets up. Uncle stood and stretched. “Okay buddy... Why did I do that? I just read his diary. His personal life! God, I fucked up.” Uncle nudges him. “What?” Uncle looks up at him. “What?” Uncle just stares at him. “What?! Do you want me to help him?!” Uncle nods. “*sigh* Sorry buddy, I can’t, he’s not allowed to know I looked through his stuff, okay?” Uncle nods again. “Thanks buddy.” Marcus leaned down and pet Uncle, then left John’s room. Marcus stretched a little bit. “I’m gonna go take a walk, okay.” Uncle nods. “Bye buddy. See ya.” Marcus leaves the dorm and starts wandering the halls. 

“Please, stop.” Marcus heard from the end of the hall. He quietly walked and turned the corner.

“Dylan, look.” One of Dylan’s friends said.

“Oi, the beasty is here. What, come to save your little boyfriend?”

“Not exactly, but either way, let him go.”

“Come on Marki,” Dylan fake pouts “*gasp* lets play a little game!”

“What game?”

“My friends will hold your little boyfriend-”

“We’re not dating”

“Uh huh, anyways, my friends will keep him safe while we play. Okay, how about a fight?”

“No! No! No fighting!” John blurts.

“Oi, shut up bitch.”

John whimpers.

“Hey! Don’t be a dick. No fight.”

“UUUUUUGGGGHHHHH, you're no fun.” Dylan hands John to his friends. “Don’t do anything. Anyways, Marki, How about we make a bet?”

“What’s the game?”

“Either we fight, or beer pong?”

“You know I don’t do things drunk. I’m not stupid.”

“Okay, so we fight?”

“NO! Wh-” Dylan's friend covers John’s mouth.

“Don’t do that.”

“Awww, Markie-moo is getting defensive of his baby.”

“He’s not my baby. Now stop. John, I’m sorry, but I’m going to beat the shit out of him.”

John tries to protest but can’t because of the friend. They all walk outside to the Main yard. A group has already gathered. Marcus and Dylan take the stage light. Epic fight scene ensues because I have no idea how to write this stuff. Marcus comes out the winner.

“Now let go of John.”

Dylan sits up, “Well Markie, we never agreed to you getting John back if you won.”

“Bruh, that’s stupid. I thought that would be implied.”

“Whoops.” Dylan grins. Marcus hits him again. “Okay, okay, let him go.”

Dylan's friends let go and John rushes over to Marcus. They embrace for a good minute, then Marcus realizes people are supposed to be scared of him, so he pushes John back and grabs his wrist, everyone gasps, and drags him back to the dorm. The crowd disperses with a couple of people following behind.

“Marcus.” No response. “Marcus.” Still nothing. “Marcus!”

“What?!” Marcus snapped, he didn’t mean to, it just happened.

“...”

“What?” He snaps again.

“Could you let go? You’re scaring me.”

“Good.” Marcus lets go and walks off to his special room.

John just stands there and starts to cry, not loud, no sobbing, just silent tears. The people who were following them came from hiding (They can become invis, ooooooo fancy) They all gently give him a hug. He starts to shake and starts quietly sobbing. Melo comes down the hall and shoos the others off. He gently levitates John by his clothes and cradles him for extra support and carries him back to the dorm. When they get back Melo sets John on the couch and wraps him in a couple of blankets, turns on the tv and goes to get some brownies. He comes back and tries to give one to John, he refuses. ‘ _ Oh god. What happened? I may only have known him for like a day or two but still he doesn’t seem the person to refuse a snack.’ _ “Hey, I’m going to look for Marc-”

“Don’t. Please. When he comes home, he comes home. Just stay with me please. I don’t wanna be alone. Not again.”

“Okay.”


	3. A Month Later

John had woken up late. Again. He had been doing this since the fight. He tried to cheer up but it didn’t work, and the violent texts from his mother didn’t help. She had found out that he was involved in the fight. He never did anything. It’s not like he could, but Dylan lied. He said that John threw the first punch and Marcus came to help. The faculty never asked if it was true. They didn’t even ask the bystanders; but then again, why would they? Dylan was their perfect little baby, him being the Dean’s son and all. It was horrible. He arrived late to class, Mr. Squeegee was never too upset the first couple of times, but once it started happening everyday it started to get bothersome.

“Blug, bloop? *Come here. Where were you?*”

“Sleeping.” You could tell from the bags under John’s eyes that that wasn’t completely true.

“Glug. *Go take a seat.*”

John sat down and tried not to zone out or fall asleep. He was caught dozing off twice. The third time Mr. Squeegee told him to go to the office.  _ ‘Great. God dang. I’m screwed.’ _ John stood up and started his journey to the office. He had the idea of just leaving, but that would just get him in more trouble. Marcus caught up with him.

“Damn, you walk fast.”

“Uh huh.”

“Are you mad at me?”

“No? Why would I be? You helped me.”

“I don’t know, it’s just that you don’t come out of your room a lot, and you keep coming to class late.”

“It’s fine.”

“Is this about the fight?”

“Yes, Dylan got me in trouble too.”

“Really?”

“Yes, but don’t do anything. It’ll just make things worse.”

“Okay.”

…

“Are you sure you’re not mad at me?”

John stops and turns to look at Marcus.

“I’m positive. Just go back to class. I don’t want you in trouble too.”

“I have a slip, he said I could leave.”

“Okay, cool, don’t care. Go.”

“John.”

“Go.”

Marcus looks down and then turns and heads back to the classroom. ‘ _ God I love that man. He’s so nice and I feel bad now. I made him think it was his fault. _ ’ John kept thinking to himself as he walked and before he knew it he was at the doors to the office. ‘ _ Here goes nothing.’ _ He gently pushed the door open and the principle was waiting for him.

“Please step into my office.” She said in a deepish voice.

‘ _ Fudge. I’m throwing myself out the window.’ _ John follows the principle into her office.

“So I heard you’ve been coming to class late for the past month. You’re honestly lucky that Squeegee didn’t turn you in sooner.”

“Marcus didn’t go to class until last week, and you’re mad at me.”

“Well yes, you’ve been caught falling asleep in class and we aren’t sure how you work, meanwhile Marcus has been doing that since, I think he said, 4th grade.”

“Okay. And?”

“And, you need to pay attention.”

“Okay. And?”

“And if you don’t you could fail.”

“Okay. And?”

“And your mother has told us about this and that if you were to do anything to tell her.”

“Fuck you.”

“Young man! Watch your language!”

“No. Fuck you. This is bull.”

“Watch it.”

“The fuck are you gonna do? Send me home? If anything, I would rather fight my own father than go back to class.”

“Well then. You’ll go to your dorm and we’ll have someone to watch you.”

“Fuck no. I’d rather not.”

“Well then, it’s decided. We’ll give you a choice first. I’ll find a couple of therapists that would be willing to stay with you day and night-”

“No! I’m not dealing with that!” John stands up and goes for the door. Before he could touch the handle the door flung open and a big man stood in his way. The man takes a step closer. John backs up. The man takes another step. John keeps his ground. The man stands still, then he takes a giant step and pushes John back into the seat. “I’m not dealing with some idiot who’s gonna stare at me while I sleep.”

“They won’t stare. But they will check in every hour or so at night. You’ll also have two or three therapists which will cycle every other day.”

“Come on, dude.”

“Don’t dude me. Jacob, take him to the meeting room. The guidance counselor will help you.”

“Fuck you.”

Jacob walks John to the meeting room, sits him down and walks away to stand in front of the door. A young man walks into the room holding a clipboard.

“Hello!” He says with a smile.

“Hi.”

“How are you?”

“Horrible. My mom’s gonna kill me.”

“Oh. Well then, uuuuuhhhhh, I have an idea. How about we forget about your mother for a little bit and try to find someone to watch you, hm?”

“You’re lucky I don’t feel like being manhandled again. Sure.”

After about an hour of searching for a couple of therapists, they’ve picked three.

“Okay. So now that we have these three which one do you prefer to have main time with.”

“I guess Lucy. She seems nice.”

“Okay so the other two will be back ups. Lucy will stay with you for three days of the week and the others for two each. You’ll speak with Lucy on Sunday, Wednesday, and Saturday. She’ll stay the night on Saturday so she won’t have to go back and forth all the time. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Okay! So do you want to talk about anything right now? I have a meeting with another student scheduled in 30 minutes so we have a bit of time to talk.”

“I’d rather not. I’m not too comfortable sharing things openly. But I do want to know something about Dylan. Why the heck is he the schools ‘baby boy’?”

“Hmm? Well he is the Dean’s son.”

“I know, and it’s stupid. The Dean can do as he pleases when he’s at home but like biasing at school is dumb.”

“*sigh* I know. It happens a lot. Dylan was also supposed to go through what you’re going through last year when he started, but he threatened to tell his Father and I got scared.”

“Oh fun.”

“Yeah. Okay, so now I have a question for you. Did you really throw the first punch?”

“No, Dylan pinned me to the wall, then Marc came over to help and then I was passed to Dylan’s friends and I just was forced to watch as the fight happened. Also why didn’t Marcus get in more trouble.”

“I’m not completely sure. Rumor has it that Dylan likes Marcus and that’s why he’s trying to scare you. Melo had the same encounter as you did. But it only happened once since Melo has a girl of his own and he made that very clear.”

“Okay, cool. So what do I do now?”

“Jacob will take you back to your room and stay with you until Lucy gets here since it’s Wednesday.”

“Okay. Cool, thanks.”

“No problem! Have a good day!”

“You too. :)”

Jacob walks John back to his room and waits until Lucy gets there. She comes at around lunchtime.

“Hello. Are you John?”

“Yes, I am. You’re Lucy?”

“Yep. You can go now Jacob. Thank you!”

Jacob dips.

“You’re so tiny.”

“You’re really friggin big. How old are you?”

“16.”

“Pardon? 16?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m 25.”

“Pfft, short people.”

“Oh shush. How about we go get some lunch?”

After lunch, they went to the rest of his classes. John, in his seat, and Lucy, in the back of the class watching everytime that his head dips a bit from sleep deprivation. Lucy got John out of his final class about 30 minutes early so they could walk back to the dorm in peace. When they get back, they start their first therapy session.

Marcus walks into the dorm and sees John laying on the couch with a random girl, who he has never seen, sitting on his back and giving him a little massage.

“Hello?”


	4. A Month Later: Continued

“Oh! Marcus! Hey!”

Lucy gets off of John’s back and John sits up. Marcus sees John is shirtless. A light blush forms on his face.

“Hi. Who’s that?”

“Hmm? Oh, this is Lucy. She’s my therapist.”

“You have a therapist?”

“Yeah?”

“Is this about mom? Did she threaten you again?”

“Yeah, last week- wait. How did you know that Mom threatens me?”

“I vaguely remember you saying that Mom would kill you if you didn’t go to the first class on your first day.”

“Yeah, but most kids exaggerate when they say that. Did you look through my box?”

“No? What box?” He lied. You know, like a liar.

“Okay. Nevermind.”

“Okay?”

…

“Are you gonna put your shirt back on?”

“Why? Do you like what you see? ;)”

“Oh my god. Shut up.”

John stands up and walks towards Marcus.

“There’s only one way to get me to shut up.”

“A punch to the face?”

“No.”

“A punch to the dick?”

“Maybe. But No.”

“Then what?”

“A kiss.”

“OH MY GOD! When did you become a flirt?!” His face gets a bit darker.

“I don’t know. But I quite like how you look when flustered, so I might just have to stay a flirt.”

“Oh god, you better not!” Melo yells from behind Marcus.

“Oh shit! When the fuck did you get there?!”

“Language. >:(“

“I’ve been standing here for the past friggin flirty convo. Shut up, put on a shirt and everyone stay out of the kitchen. I'm going to make dinner. It’ll be ready at 6.”

John puts his shirt back on and sits back down on the couch, Marcus sits on the other end and Lucy just patiently waited in the armchair next to the couch.

“Okay, so how about couple’s theropay?” She says with a smirk.

“We- uh We’re not dating.”

“Oh. But you two seem like a good fit.”

“We could be. ;)”

“John, shut the fuck up, I swear to god, go take a nap or some shit you look tired, I’m going to bed.”

“You better get your ass up for dinner!” Melo shouts from the kitchen.

“I will!” Marcus gets up and walks to his room.

“Well if I’m gonna take a nap too, can it be with you?”

Marcus slams his door shut and John laughs his butt off.

“So. Do you like him?”

“Pfft, what? No, He just looks really stupid when he’s flustered.” John giggles.

“Does he look adorably stupid or stupidly adorable?”

“Both.”

…

“Hey wait!”

This time Lucy giggles.

“You tricked me.”

“No, you just didn’t think before you answered.”

“I did think! Just not enough…”

“You two seem like a good fit. It might work. You’re a very sweet young man and he is a tad hardheaded. Opposites attract you know.”

“Yeah, no. I mean, it’s not a bad thought but I don’t wanna get even more on Dylan’s bad side.”

“What do you mean?”

“The counselor told me that there’s a rumor that Dylan likes Marcus.”

“Oh, that’s mainly true.” Melo lifts the little curtain from the kitchen window to look into the living room.

“Really?”

“Yeah, apparently he’s liked Marcus from day one. They used to be bestfriends at diapers, sweethearts in middle school, then they started to drift apart in highschool. Just like most relationships. That’s when Dylan started being a dick. He just couldn’t come to terms that Marcus wasn’t his.”

“Oh. How do you know that?”

“I watched their friendship grow and fall apart. I’ve always been very observant. And quiet, so I just get to watch what happens most of the time.”

“Okay, cool. Wait, you said they were middle school sweethearts. What happened?”

“Well, we think they were dating or at least fuck buddies. We aren’t completely sure. But as they started to drift Marcus found other people cute and his anger issues started to get worse. He never hurt anybody and he was basically Dylan’s bodyguard for a little bit, but it didn’t last, and I think Dylan more or less missed the attention. So yeah.”

“Okay. Well then, what if we get them back together. Do you think that would stop Dylan?”

“Maybe, but we have to get the idiot on board.”

“Hey! He’s not an idiot!”

“Okay, just shush, Dylan has eyes and ears everywhere, I wouldn’t want to try to defend Marc, it could just make Dylan more jealous.”

“Well, why are you fine speaking openly?”

“Because it’s about their old relationship and Dylan doesn’t scare me.”

“Okay. Well, I’ll talk to him after dinner, maybe.”

“What do you mean maybe?” Lucy chimes in.

“I mean, I’m not sure if I’m ready to talk to him about personal stuff yet.”

“You were just flirting with him!”

“That’s different! He’s different. I’m gonna take a nap.”


End file.
